The Volkswagen diesel settlement for 2.0-liter TDI models, approved at the end of October, includes a provision for $2 billion in funds to install charging or fueling infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles.

There has been considerable debate over what those funds should be used for, and how they should be administered.

The vast majority of the funding is expected to go toward electric-car charging stations, but charging networks, electric-car advocates, and some politicians have questioned whether VW should be left in charge of spending it.

The latest round of the debate took place in Congress, where on Tuesday lawmakers questioned the inclusion of the zero-emission infrastructure provision in the VW diesel settlement, as reported by The Detroit News.

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee argued that the provision would give Volkswagen an unfair advantage over competitors, because it would be developing infrastructure that could be used by its own electric cars.

While previously it was far from a leader in electric cars, VW now says it is committed to them as it seeks to recover from the diesel scandal and prepare for stricter future emissions standards.

By 2025, the company hopes to be selling 1 million electric cars per year, and it plans to begin building electric cars in North America in 2021.

Representative Tim Murphy [R-PA]—chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations panel—argued that it did not make sense for Volkswagen to potentially profit from something it was ostensibly being punished for.